Programme Highlight: Fair

by UnseenAugust 17 2017

Every year, Unseen Amsterdam offers an exciting and dynamic programme to engage with the contemporary photographic climate. In this new feature, we will showcase our plans for the 2017 programme. This week, we are excited to tell you a bit more about the Fair. At the Fair, Unseen welcomes over 50 galleries from across the globe to connect and inspire artists, curators, collectors and photography enthusiasts on an international level.

At this years’ fair, we are delighted to be introducing new friends and welcoming back old friends. We have the pleasure of introducing Galerie Janine Rubeiz from Beirut (Lebanon) NEWWER from Monterrey (Mexico) and Gallery Naruyama from Tokyo (Japan). Some of the new European galleries joining us this year are Purdy Hicks Gallery and Tristan Hoare based in London, Espace JB from Geneva, Berlin based Galerie für Moderne Fotografie and Parisian gallery Intervalle. Returning galleries from Iran, USA, Germany, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands amongst others, will be joining us again this year.

Once again, Unseen will foster artists who push the medium of photography by experimenting and combining other mediums, such as sculpture and performance art. Within the Fair, artists cover a broad range of themes including environmental, geographical and political. A few new artists showcasing their work include Theo Simpson (UK, 1986), who’s work is a reflection on mythical themes that relate to landscape and industrial heritage. Through investigating the instability of the post-industrial landscape and its cultural and physical borders, he examines diverse materials, ruins and objects found in Northern England.

Alix Marie (FR, 1989) involves both sculpture and photography in her conceptual art works. She considers the photograph as an object and explores materials, the sense of touch and the perception of three dimensionality. Drawing on the parallels between clinical surgery and the process of image making, Alix Marie incorporates sculptures related to flesh and femininity into her photographic installations.

The work of Ruth van Beek (NL, 1977) originates in her ever-growing archive. She sources images mainly from old photo books. Through the rearrangement and manipulation of images, Van Beek physically intervenes in these pictures. By folding them, cutting them, or adding pieces of painted paper, abstract shapes come to life and trigger the imagination of the viewer.

Working with the concepts of trace and memory, Edouard Taufenbach (FR, 1988) will premiere a series of collages entitled CINEMA histoires domestiques. Constructed by repetition and an accumulation of forms, this series plays on the borderline between documentary and fiction.

Come and discover many more international artists pushing the boundaries of photography at Unseen Amsterdam 2017 and explore recent developments in the medium.